Prominent Japanese manga publisher Manga University has announced the upcoming launch of "StepMania: The Manga," an all-new original comic based on the wildly popular dance/rhythm video game. Made in consultation with the game's creator, Chris Danford, and written by up-and-coming Japanese manga artist Uno Shino, "StepMania: The Manga" follows the exploits of a brash high-schooler named Yukino as she is thrown headfirst into the world of StepMania by her best friend and veteran dancer Momo, who works at the local arcade.

"StepMania: The Manga" is a fast-paced mixture of humor, adventure and lots of dancing that is a must-read for manga fans and gamers alike. There are even a few game-related tips sprinkled through the story to get readers more involved in the game and its massive community.

Two pages of "StepMania: The Manga" will be released free of charge every week on http://www.stepmaniathemanga.com. Readers and fans are also invited to comment and offer feedback on the comic as it's being made!

Manga University is Japan's leading publisher of English-language educational manga. The studioâs award-winning publications include the "Kanji de Manga" language-learning series; the critically acclaimed "Samurai Confidential" illustrated history book; fan favorites such as "Manga Moods," "Manga Sisters" and "Moe USA"; and "The Manga Cookbook," which has become one of the best-selling English-language Japanese cookbooks in the world.

Over on the PNWBemani boards, a representative from MangaUniversity dropped in and said the following in regards to comments and questions we had been voicing in a thread:

"As far as the story, the characters in the manga play on a fictitious arcade version of StepMania as well as on their home PCs/hacked consoles and anywhere else you'd find it in real life. We hope that in letting the characters play in the arcades and at home will allow us to touch on more than just keyboard-play, and also get more manga fans outside the gaming community playing dancing games.

How we mention different songs/steps/difficulties in the manga is one of the aspects of the project that we are very excited about. When possible we'd like to feature original stepfiles and songs created by the StepMania/simfile community and feature their name and files in the issues where they are mentioned!"

They could always take the easy route of adding a hardcore character that prefers those types of artists. I haven't started the manga yet, but there's nothing stopping them from featuring each of the many types of players and the ways they like to play along with type of music that that type usually choose to experience.